Amsterdam police arrest pro- Palestine demonstrators for defying protest ban.

 News|Israel-Palestine conflict

Amsterdam police arrest pro-

Palestine demonstrators for

 defying protest ban

The ban was imposed after violence involving Israeli football supporters around the Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax game.

Dutch police have arrested more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters in Amsterdam after they defied a demonstration ban put in place in the wake of clashes between Israeli football fans and people in the city.

Early on Sunday, the Amsterdam District Court upheld a decision by the mayor to ban protests in the Dutch capital, three days after it was rocked by violence between Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans and residents in several areas.seemore

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But hundreds of demonstrators defied the prohibition to gather in Amsterdam’s Dam Square on Sunday, chanting demands for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza and slogans such as “Free Palestine”.

Police in riot gear moved in on the protesters in the afternoon, shortly after the court upheld the protest ban.

Reporting from Amsterdam, Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen said that even tourists in Dam Square were shocked by an aggressive police response that included manhandling peaceful protesters.

“I saw tourists from India who were wearing the keffiyeh and were also being searched. They looked intimidated by the police and had no idea what was going on,” she said.

“It is unique in Amsterdam to ban protests. This has not happened before [but] over the last year, a lot of Palestinian solidarity protests were held in the city.”

Late on Sunday afternoon, the municipality, together with Amsterdam police and public prosecutor’s office, extended the initial three-day ban on demonstrations until Thursday morning.